Critical Race Theory & Ecocriticism

Media Summaries
“Toward an Environmental Justice Ecocriticism” by T.V. Reed

In this article, Reed writes about issues he sees within the ecocriticism community. He points out a lack of diversity and the climate change movement being mostly white. While I agree with him on this, as a Native woman I feel Indigenous groups often do not get an invitation to sit at the table when they should be the first taken into consideration.

“Earth Democracy Actions” by Vandana Shiva

Shiva does an excellent job in this article of making connections between social issues and climate issues. She also writes in a way that is easy to read but factual, connects to spirits but not any particular religion and draws on pathos but is not overly emotional. It was really balanced and written in a way to connect with everyone. Shiva writes that Earth Democracy is “both an ancient worldview and an emergent political movement for peace, justice and sustainability.” I really enjoyed this article’s list of 10 principles of Earth Democracy:

1. All species, peoples, and cultures have intrinsic worth
2. The earth community is a democracy of all life
3. Diversity in nature and culture must be defended
4. All beings have a natural right to sustenance
5. Earth Democracy is based on living economies and economic democracy
6. Living economics are built on local economies
7. Earth democracy is living democracy
8. Earth Democracy is based on living cultures
9. Living cultures are life nourishing
10. Earth Democracy globalizes peace, care, and compassion

“Green is the New Black“, a | TEDxYale Talk by Shannon Prince

Shannon Price beautifully intertwines literature, poetry and statistics when talking about the overlap of race and climate. She talks about black Americans having far less green space than white Americans and black people living in areas more affected by climate change. I was disgusted to hear about black children dying of asthma at a rate 7 times higher than white kids. She importantly states that race, class and climate are connected and when one is bettered or worsened, the rest will be as well.

Critical Race Theory and Ecocriticism Intersectional Analysis

As a social worker, it is important to see the intersections of societal topics and how these topics affect the quality of lives for groups of people. Similar to how race, class and gender are connected, race and climate are also connected. Racist American policies such as redlining worked to ensure people of color were in poor areas that were more greatly impacted by climate change. This impact continues to today. “In the U.S., African Americans have greater exposure to toxins than white people for 13 out of 14 air pollutants. Hispanics have the highest exposure for 10 out of 14.” (True Climate Justice Is Impossible Without Racial And Economic Justice)